Matt Perlman

9.5

Quite structured, granitic, juicy, meaty, a bit of smoke. Very, very special — 3 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.3

Nice bright lemon color... but packing both real weight and acidity. Ripe juicy pear and red apple with a touch of richness, butter, toast...13.7 ABV... the wine has knit itself into a round, complex whole of its parts. A touch too new world for some, and too dry and old world for others. I admire the winemaking restraint and the complex fruit from the highly regarded vineyard. Nice dinner companion. — 5 years ago

B

10

2005 Paul Avril Clos de Papes Chateauneuf du Pape. Decanted for an hour before the wine opened up. Dinner at home. Drank with curry. Took a while for it to open up, but always had a lot of layers to the nose. Fruit, spice, earth all in there. If we had blind-tasted, would’ve thought it was a Spanish wine. Not a lot of the peppery and gamey notes we were expecting. Time in glass and decanter was good and necessary. Really good after around 2 hrs in the decanter. — 5 years ago

Keith Crump

9.0

Just visited Martinborough a must for any wine lover coming to NZ so a sample of the Chardonnay this is not a big blustery white some floral nose and citrus notes a great combo with fish — 6 years ago

Heather Venard

9.2

Blackberry and tobacco... Love the balance of sweet and savory. — 7 years ago

Ntobeko Ntusi

9.2

From the home of Prosecco. Excellent in every way. Vintage 2015. Very, very good. Goes well with everything and even better on its own. — 7 years ago

Ashleigh Klare

9.2

Lighter on the palate than the nose; nice surprise. Smooth and light. Like coppa - soft, melts in your mouth, not bitter, a little buttery and very slightly sweet with a hint of herbal notes. Enjoyable with pasta and pesto dinner at home. — 7 years ago

Brent S

9.2

Night and day from the last bottle we opened of this. Fantastic merlot. — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Nice holiday bubbly!! Roederer Estate sparkling wines are crisp & fresh reflecting the cool, fog-shrouded Anderson Valley, home to estate's 600 acres of vineyards. Blend of 60% Pinot Noir & 40% Chardonnay. Light salmon color, good flow of bubbles, firm mousse, aromas of berry fruits and biscuit notes. On the palate flavors of strawberry, ripe apple and peach with a dash of pepper spice. Long finish, lively acidity ending a tad creamy with toasty yeasty tones. Very Nice! — 4 years ago

Moe

9.1

From back label. Located on a high-elevation, steep glacial terrace in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. This stunning site has clay and pedogenic lime soil, featuring schist and quartz.
A traditional aesthetic - respectful, patient, vineyard- focused- resonates in our approach, and frees the wine to express the unique tenor of our sites.

This wine was fermented using only indigenous ‘ wild’ yeast and matured for 17 months in French oak barrels. This wine was bottled unfiltered on 10th of November 2016. Careful cellaring will reward collectors over the next 10+ years. 1046 cases were made. — 5 years ago

Peter Rosenfeld

9.4

Deep deep flavour for a pinot. Cherry at the end of many delicious layers. 2016 with xmas turkey. — 6 years ago

Ming L

9.3

The 2010 Esprit de Beaucastel from Tablas Creek was a tough act to follow, but this elegant Rhône blend from Sonoma just did that.

The nose was quite similar with aroma of blue fruits and earthy elements with hint of violet, it was the palate that set it apart: soft, complex and deep, with great texture and beautiful acidity that adds the tension. Elegant and seamless.

Kale Anderson was the long time wine maker at Pahlmeyer, and Kale wines are all vineyard-specific. Worth seeking out. — 6 years ago

Pooneet K

8.9

A solid champagne that is in “the middle” in a lot of ways. Medium acid, medium yeast, etc. Balanced, but I probably prefer something that expresses one end of the spectrum a bit more. Still nice. — 7 years ago

with Allison

Daniel P. Drake

9.4

Friday night and I had a taste for a Bordeaux, so I stopped on my way home and picked up the 2014 Château Léoville Barton from Saint-Julien. A beautiful expression of a classical Left Bank Bordeaux Blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc.

The nose reveals beautiful dark fruit of black raspberry, black cherry, black plum, black currant, a touch of strawberry, graphite, mocha, vanilla, clove and an earthy component.

On the palate you have sweet dark fruit that is beautifully rounded that continues through with black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, black currant, plum, licorice, a herbal note and some rich earth.

The wine is medium to full bodied with a racey medium + acidity and medium + chewy tannins that leads right into a long fruit filled finish. A nice wine that has a lot of years ahead of it if you would like to cellar this gem. Now this is definitely how I like to start my weekend off right. Have a safe an enjoyable weekend. Nostrovia! 🍷🍷🍷🍷 — 7 years ago

Scott E. Becker

9.4

[Tasted on December 24, 2021 at Home with Rachel]

Black raspberry, black cherry and blueberry fruit, with roses, earth, vanilla and baking spice, and notes of mandarin orange and black tea. Beautiful balance and structure. Silky. Wine Spectator rated Wine #9 of 2020 Top 100. — 4 years ago

Scott E. Becker

9.2

[Tasted on December 26, 2020 at Home with Jay Yalowitz]

Dark ruby in the glass. Black fruit and oak on the nose. Blackberry and blueberry fruit, with sweet cedar, cocoa, vanilla, peppercorn and clove. Beautiful mountain fruit. Wine #58 of Wine Spectator’s Top 100 of 2020. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

From the excellent 1986 vintage. Still dense in colour - a deep Ruby. Cedar cigar box dusty some tobacco, mint, a touch of menthol and remnants of black currant. Medium weight with inner strength. The proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. In total balance finishing with soft pliant tannins. Always with these old wines there is the trade off between losing the exuberance of youthful fruit versus the complexity and softening tannins brought by extended cellaring and hoping you pop it at the best time. I have one of these wines left which I hope to share with my son, Hugh (born 1987) and his girlfriend if they can get home from New York for Christmas this year. — 5 years ago

Chris England

9.4

Rev 386
€53

A ”mid range” Priorat from Terroir Al Limit of 4,684 bottles that’s 90+ from all critics that we tasted at the winery but wow at home it was even better 😍 For €53 this is just superb 👏 it screams elegance 💖

📍 Terroir Al Limit Dits del Terra 2014

🏵 94-95 points w/ more potential

🍇 100% Cariñena (Carignan)

🍷 Deep vibrant ruby

👃 Red cherry, red berry fruit & blackberry in soggy blueberry infused earth, rose petals & parma-violet w/ a soft flinty mineral undertone then prune & date as it really opens up

👄 Light-Med body of silky smooth punchy ripe red cherry, blackberry & blueberry w/ a touch of creamy cocoa, liquorice & a tiny hint of green

🎯 Long lingering creamy red cherry, blueberry & blackberry decadence oozing sophistication w/ a little cheeky liquorice cocoa kissypoos 💋
— 7 years ago

Berg

9.1

🦄 🦄 1 of 308 bottles. Pretty simple on the palate, but love the nose of watermelon and eucalyptus, very unique — 7 years ago

with Carla, Doctor and 4 others

Matt Perlman

9.0

A little Produttori nightcap on the road. Somewhat medicinal on initial pop but with an hour or two of air reveals beautiful cherries, dried flowers and herbs. Looking forward to finishing this on the train back home tomorrow evening. — 8 years ago